Tales of Legendforge: Joshua's Awakening
by Enkiddu
Summary: Joshua's life is irreversibly altered when he discovers a secret that has been hidden from him his entire life: he's a wizard. After being separated from the only world he ever knew, he embarks on a journey to discover who his parents really are, all while trying to adjust to life as a wizard.
1. Dreaming of Things Long Past

**Chapter 1: Dreaming of Things Long Past**

" _Look at the pretty flowers Joshua. Aren't they beautiful? They're your mom's favorite, you know." I looked down at the flowers my father gestured to. They were pretty, with pink petals that stood out against the bright green grass. My young eyes were enthralled by the flower's sway as the wind blew._

 _I ran around in the grass, grazing around absentmindedly. The day was beautiful - nothing but blue skies, with no clouds to be found. As I scuttled around, I eventually reached the border of our home. It was the edge of the floating island, which peered over an endless sky._

 _I always feared the edge. There was nothing to stop me from falling into the sky, and I didn't even know how long I'd be falling for. Would I die? Would I just keep falling forever? What would be waiting for me at the bottom? I dreaded finding out… but at the same time, I wanted to know what was out there._

 _A large hand wrapped around mine. "Don't worry about falling down. As long as I'm here, I'll always be holding your hand. Even when you can't see me, or when you think I'm not there, don't worry. I will never let you go."_

 _My father chuckled and squeezed my hand._ "Joshua… hey, Josh, wake up already!"

* * *

The soft squeeze suddenly became a violent shove. I forced open my eyes, only to find myself in a dimly-lit room filled with other boys in pajamas. I was back in my bedroom. I immediately groaned into my pillow. God, mornings in the orphanage were always the worst.

My good old friend John, the red-haired kid who kept shaking me, kept whining about how all the good food was going to be taken if we were late again. "C'mon Josh, I don't want to start off the morning with raisin bran _again_!" I groaned again.

"Fine, I'll go on my own then. But I won't be saving any Froot Loops for you, y'know."

After a few seconds, I managed to sit up on my bed with a little bit of effort. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, letting them get accustomed to the artificial lights of the large room. From my right, John kept poking me in my cheek. "Oh, I was worried you were dead for a second. Are you a zombie? Just so you know, I'm not really all that tasty. Lots of carbs."

"Knock it off you doofus." I smacked him with my pillow.

I noticed that the room was mostly empty besides the two of us, as most of the other guys have already left to the cafeteria for breakfast. "Crap, we gotta go!"

"Oh sure, pretend like it was your idea." I didn't have time to smack him with my pillow again, so we instead bolted out of our rooms and headed straight to the cafeteria almost like it was some sort of race. John, being the more athletic out of the two of us, easily outpaced me, but I did manage to get some good distance on everyone else who wasn't participating in our little run.

I suppose that, in order for this story to make any sense, I have to introduce myself. This is my story after all, so it's only fair that you'd know who I am. My name is Joshua Myers and as you might have guessed, I am an orphan. Ever since I was a baby, in fact. At least, that's what everyone has been telling me all my life. Social workers, therapists, doctors… the only thing I actually know about my parents is that they're dead. Car crash. Who they were before that, I have no idea.

Well, I might have a few ideas.

Even though I was only a baby when my parents supposedly died, I've been having some weird dreams recently, of a man, a woman, and a little toddler. This wasn't a random family - I felt that in the back of my mind, I knew who these people were. The warm voice of the man as he carries his son across a garden. His mother's pleasant smile as she kisses her baby goodnight. It was the idyllic family life that an orphan like me never had… but why did it feel so familiar?

Every time I raised that question to one of my doctors, they always had the same response: a manifestation of a subconscious desire for a family, a fantasy about what his parents could have been life if they haven't died before he had a chance to meet them. When they first gave that explanation to me, I thought that's what it must have been. As the dreams kept coming, however, I realized that there was more to these dreams than just "fantasy".

Could they have been memories?

* * *

"Hmph, what's with the empty plate Josh?" John asked through a mouthful of Froot Loops. He was sitting across from me in a cafeteria table, the same table we always sit in the morning.

"It's not empty. See, I got eggs." I poked at the yolk of the omelette on my plate with my plastic fork.

"Dude, you always get more food then that. I mean, you're like a darn vacuum cleaner when it comes to sucking up food, especially in the morning. I mean, I haven't seen anyone else that can stomach that many bowls of crappy orphanage oatmeal other than you. So what's up?"

"Uh… my stomach hurts. So I'm not really all that hungry today." I rubbed my stomach, hoping that it would convince John to change the topic.

John tilted his head. "I think you're definitely lying. Man, we've known each other for, like, our whole lives, Don't you think I can tell when you're hiding something?"

John wasn't going to let this go until I finally told him what was going on. As annoyingly persistent as he was sometimes, I still appreciated that he has good intentions at heart. It makes me kinda regret hitting him with a pillow this morning.

"Fine. I'll tell you what's going." I went on to explain what was going on with my dreams, and what the doctors kept telling me about them. All throughout my explanation, I kept noticing John furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, which a pretty natural reaction all things considered.

Once I was done, John took a few seconds to process exactly what I just said. "I'm not sure I understand but… you're not lying about all those weird dreams with your parents in them, right?"

"Of course I'm not." I replied. "Why would I lie about something like that? It's not like 'dreams of my dead parents living on a floating island' is just a story that'd randomly pop in my head."

John chuckled and punched me in the shoulder. "Yeah, that's what I thought! I'm gonna believe you, for now. So they aren't just regular dreams, you say?"

"I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I'm remembering stuff from my childhood. A childhood that, if my parents really were dead when I was just a baby, I never would have had."

John crossed his arms. "Maybe you did have a childhood then? And nobody told you because…" John shrugged. "I dunno, adults pull shady stuff all the time."

I laughed, and took a bite out of my omelett. I haven't realized how hungry I was until now. Hungier than ever even.

It was a really big mistake getting just one omelette.

* * *

"Catch!" John threw a basketball at me from across the court. I managed to catch it with both hands, although it kinda stung a little when it impacted against my bare palms. Ouch, that is going to leave them red for quite a while.

After breakfast and the usual morning routines, we're allowed to wander around the orphanage doing as we please as long as we abide by the rules. Me and John generally head out outside to a gated basketball court after breakfast and play a few rounds. Despite being a fair bit taller than John, I still lose all the time because he's a lot better at jumping than I am. My spindly limbs just can't cooperate with me long enough to score points.

The staff member that was supposed to be supervising us was wearing a set of headphones and reading some sort of comic book, so he was completely unaware of what was going on with us. Which is totally against what he's supposed to be doing, but hey, I'm not complaining.

I was about to shoot the ball to the hoop when I suddenly felt something heavy impact the back of my head. A bucked and nearly fell to my knees - a sharp pain erupted from my head, blurring my vision for a few seconds. I noticed a ball rolling behind me, and then I noticed who threw the ball at my head.

Three other kids approached the court, and just from the looks of them, I could tell they were bad news. They wore unflattering scowls on their faces, and walked with an air that screamed of entitlement. In other words, they were the kind of generic bullies you'd see in a high school sitcom.

"Hey twerps," one of the kids hollered. "You're hogging the court. It's our turn, so scram before we decide to use a little… deadly force." He punctuated his threat by slamming his knuckles together. His two cronies repeated the same gesture behind him.

'I don't know if you noticed, but this court doesn't belong to you jerks." John snapped. "If you're going to be assholes about it, I don't really have a reason to 'scram', now do I?"

The head bully sneered. He approached John, his footsteps smacking against the gravel pavement. John stood his ground, looking the bully straight in his eyes. When the kid closed the distance between him and John, I noticed how much he towered over John. I would have guessed he was, like, six feet by looking at him.

The guy picked up John by the collar of his shirt and raised him until they were face to face, their eyes locked on each other. After a few tense seconds, the bully grunted and violently threw John against the floor. "Forget about it, you freaks ruined it. Losers like you are not worth the effort."

The trio stormed off in the other direction. I glanced at John, who was lying in a crumpled head on the floor. He squirmed, struggling to get up, which is when I noticed a flash of red on his cheek, where he had been badly scraped. He left a red stain on the granite when he lifted his head.

John was hurt, and I didn't do anything to stop them. He'd stood up for himself… no, not just for himself, for me too. I didn't do anything but stand around and watch while he got thrown to the floor.

For some reason, a white hot pit boiled inside my stomach. I can't let them just get away with this. They couldn't just hurt whoever they want because they felt like it. Those kind of people… are the absolute scum of the world!

In my revenge-fueled rage, I did something incredibly stupid that sounded cool in my head at the time. In my defense, it was my adrenaline doing the talking, not me.

"H-hey! Just because you think you're tough… doesn't give you the right to beat up some innocent kid who was minding his own business! What the hell is wrong with you guys!?"

The three stopped in their tracks, and slowly turned to face me with those chilling glares. It was at that moment I realized I made a mistake that might just cost me my dignity and maybe even my life.

"Oh, looks like we got a hero over here boys."

"Oooh, look who thinks he's so brave!"

They kept laughing at me as they drew closer. I tried to hold my ground, like John did, but the bully in command went straight into action by punching me in the gut. I was expecting him to keep mocking me, so the sudden punch was completely unexpected.

The sudden intense pain caused me to fall to my knees. As I clenched my bruised stomach, I noticed the guy who just punched me raised his leg, as if rearing up for a kick. A kick that was aimed straight towards me.

I clenched my eyes shut, dreading the impact. I couldn't run away, I couldn't fight back any more. Why did I even think I stood a chance? I could have just helped get John to the nurse's office and get him patched up. Or I could have just gotten the staff to intervene. I could have done all that instead of choosing to act like some big-shot hero.

That doesn't matter now. I made my choice, and this is the consequence. There's no use in doing anything but laying down and taking it.

 _Lay down and… take it?_

 _No… no! I've been laying down and taking it for my whole life! And I'm just going to keep letting myself be abused like this, like some worthless ragdoll?_

 _I refuse to live like that any more! I'll fight back… and I won't lose… ever again!_

"W-what the-"

A tremor shook the court. The bully lost his balance and fell down onto the pavement, with his fellow cronies falling into a pile behind him. Cracks started to form underneath the three of them, until the entire ground collapsed from their weight, sending them tumbling beneath the ground into the newly-exposed sinkhole.

The cracks stopped right at my feet. A sudden surge of power flowed through my veins and disappeared as soon as the quake stopped. I didn't know what just happened right now but… I'm definitely grateful it did. It was a little too convenient that a sinkhole opened up at just the right time though… do coincidences like that really exist?

The worker who had been distracted by music and comics couldn't ignore the sudden sinkhole that appeared a few feet away from him, and he fled straight away to alert the rest of the orphanage.

I looked back at John, who was struggling to get up on his elbows. I tried to reach out for him, but I couldn't move. Any energy I had before had vanished just like that. I was completely drained.

I collapsed on the floor, and drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

"I always knew you were dumb, but I didn't know you were _that_ dumb. Good thing that sinkhole ate those jerks, or otherwise you'd be a lot less alive right now."

"Shut up. You did the same thing too."

"I never made any mystery of my idiocy. What's your point?"

After that whole incident in the courtyard, John and I were taken to the makeshift nurse's office. We were laying side by side on cots, talking in hushed voices as the nurses hustled right outside our room.

"How convenient was that sinkhole though? I didn't think lucky coincidences like that happened outside of movies and TV. Hm… maybe the mole people are responsible for it?"

""Yeah, right." Even though I scoffed it off at that moment, I still couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't just a lucky break. To be honest, it wouldn't be the first time something like that happened to me. I remember when I was little kid, I used to jump up and down when I was throwing tantrums. I remember the earth shaking strong enough to break all the plates in the kitchen, which everyone then had to clean up.

Nah, the thought that a toddler could have been responsible for an earthquake by jumping up and down was so absurd it wasn't even worth considering. Maybe it was a coincidence after all. Stranger things have happened before.

The door to our room clicked open, and in came the director of the orphanage - a young blonde woman who had her hair done in a messy bun, and was never seen with out a blue pantsuit. "Oh, thank goodness the both of you are okay. Nothing is broken, right?"

We both shook our heads. The director sighed in relief. "Goodness… I'm sorry you had to deal with those delinquents. I promise that they'll never bother you two again, okay?"

"Thanks m'am." John muttered in response.

"In the meanwhile, the court is closed until we can fill up the sinkhole and make sure that the court's structurally sound so we don't have any incidents like that in the future. The nurse also told me that you two will be staying here until dinnertime, so get plenty of rest for now and make sure not to do anything that'll just get you even more hurt. Have a nice day!"

After her speech was done, the director waved good bye and shut the door behind her.

"Damn it…" John groaned. "Playing ball was the only thing I liked about this stupid place. Now I can't even do that? Gah, what's even the point any more…"

As John went on ranting, I closed my eyes. My exhaustion snuck up on me, and I couldn't stop myself from falling into a light sleep. Images of the day so far flashed across my mind - the dreams, breakfast, the bullies, the sinkhole… and suddenly, I found my gaze fixed on a patch of ground. The earth started to crack, and the cracks kept expanding further and wider as a large, green hand rose from the newly-formed crevice and gripped the surface of the earth in attempt to pull itself up.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

John's voice snapped me out of my sleep-induced stupor. It looks like he finally finished his long-winded explanation about how annoying this orphanage, which I'm sort of glad I missed because it's the fifth time I've heard him repeat it. Fifth time this month to be specific.

As John started to repeat his rant to me again, the image of the green hand stuck in the back of my head. Yet another thing my brain conjured up that I can't find a reasonable explanation for… I was starting to get fed up with all these weird dreams and visions now.

* * *

 **A/N: Heyo, and welcome to my first story on this site! I've actually been a fan of Wizard101 ever since I was a little kid, but I only recently just got back into it. The basic outline of the story follows the events of the game, but diverges later on as Josh starts to develop into his own character. I'm mostly writing this for fun and for practice, so I apologize if it's a boring read. I still need to get a handle on my writing process.**

 **In any case, I apologize for the slow start! This chapter was going to be quite a bit longer, as this was the chapter that Josh was supposed to find out he's a wizard, but my internet is kinda going haywire so I decided to cut it off at the infirmary, since that seemed like a good point to pause.**

 **If you did enjoy the story, I would appreciate it if you left a review with your thoughts, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. The next chapter will be coming shorty!**


	2. An Unwelcome Intrusion

**Chapter 2: An Unwelcome Intrusion**

 _A burst of flame roared from behind me. I was too afraid to look behind me, but I felt a sudden wave of intense heat singe the back of my neck. The blue sky was coated with a dense black smoke, making breathing a difficult ordeal. I couldn't see anything beyond me besides the stacks of fire illuminating the charred pathway in the smog._

 _My father carried me through the pathway in a hurried sprint. Something else struck the ground behind us, which sent my father tumbling down in to the ground into a crumpled heap. I slid from my father's grasp and landed on the gravel stone path. I immediately felt a sharp pain spread throughout my knees and legs. I glanced to see if they were scratched, but my entire body was covered in a thick layer of soot._

" _JOSHUA!" I heard my father's voice cry out. "You have to run! Just forget about me and run!"_

 _I looked back at my father's face, blackened with the falling ash and embers. Just as I managed to meet my father's eyes, I was blinded by a sudden flash of white light._

And that's where the dream ended.

* * *

"Hey Josh? You awake?" John was shaking my arm again.

"Hmmm…" I said groggily, only half-awake. "Is it morning yet?"

John shook his head. "Nah, but I couldn't sleep so I wanted to sneak out and catch a glimpse of the ghost?"

"The ghost?" I suddenly recalled the rumor that some of the older kids started a year earlier about the ghost of a little girl that died here who roams the halls at night and probably kills anyone who finds her. It was typical ghost story fare. "Ah, that stupid rubbish again? Dude, you can't seriously tell me you believe that, do you?"

"Sh, don't say that! You'll make the little girl's ghost even angrier than she already is!"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll go with you. But don't expect me to protect you from any evil ghosts that show up."

"And I thought we were friends…"

* * *

So against my better judgement, me and John ventured out into the dark halls of the orphanage to catch a glimpse of a ghost that doesn't exist. It was probably one of the stupider things John has thought of, and I normally would have said no right to his face. But after that weird nightmare, I felt like I had to do something to get that out of my mind, and hanging out with John always did the trick. Even in a situation as ridiculous as ghost hunting.

Luckily for us, the late night security guard had fallen asleep on his chair. Wait, is that the same guy that was at the court when we were getting picked on? Geez, the orphanage really needs better staff. At least it was easy to sneak around him, so that was a lucky break.

As we walked deeper into the dark passages, I felt a chill run down my spine. I wasn't afraid of the ghost girl that John kept babbling about, but there was definitely something eerie about walking through the orphanage at night. It's not something I do often, so seeing a place that's usually brightly lit and bustling with activity so gloomy and abandoned is pretty unnerving.

John led the way - he used to sneak out at night all the time, so he was accustomed to navigating through this place even when there was barely any light. It would have been impressive if he didn't use it for ghost hunting.

"Aha, here it is!" John suddenly stopped at a door. Even without any light, I could tell that was the door to the boy's bathroom. "I'm gonna take a leak. Don't worry, I'll be right out so we can continue on our journey."

"Ugh, fine." I sighed in exasperation. "Just hurry up so you don't waste more of my time."

John nodded as he shut the door to the bathroom, leaving me all alone in the hallway.

Alone with only my thoughts, I tried not to think about the dream I just had. It was completely different than all the other dreams I had before about my 'family'. They were all happy and bright, with all three of us having the time of our lives. But that memory that I just woke up from… could it be just as true as the happier memories? Then, could that also mean that I really am an orphan?

I shivered. A sudden coldness pierced my thoughts. I don't know why, but I felt as if I was being watched. No, it wasn't just a feeling. I definitely knew I was being watched. I didn't need to see them to confirm for myself.

I scanned the area around the bathroom to make sure one of the staff workers hadn't caught on to our late-night expedition. I looked around a few times but there was no one there. No, there was no one I could _see._ There definitely was someone here… someone that isn't supposed to be here.

How did I know that? I don't know, sometimes I have really good intuition.

I knocked the door and urged John to hurry up. "I coooming! Jeez, hold your horses man, I'll be right out…"

I sighed and turned back to the hallway to make sure that I wasn't just going crazy. That's when I heard something.

 **" _J...o..sh… Josh…"_**

It was low, groaning voice that sounded too close for comfort. I immediately turned to face where the voice came from, fearing that they finally found me. But there was nobody there. Am I… really going crazy?

"A-ah!" In a moment's instance, I felt a sudden burning pain erupt from my arm. I glanced, hoping it was just my imagination playing tricks with me, but instead I saw… a large gaping cut covering my entire forearm with blood.

That's when I noticed… the thing that had caused it.

It towered over me, even though it was hunched on its back. It wore a long black cloak with a hood that covered most of its body, except its hands and face. That's when I noticed that its head was a bare skull with glowing yellow orbs illuminating its otherwise barren sockets. Crooked wings sprouted out of its back. Most importantly was the scythe it was holding… the sharp end of the blade was covered dripping, red blood…

"Wh-what the heck are you…!?" I fell to the ground, just in time to miss the wraith's second swing, which pierced the ground I was standing on. I quickly tried to regain myself and stood up, wobbling away from the thing that had just popped out of nowhere. My knees were hurt from the sudden fall, which made running away almost impossible.

"What are you!? Answer me! Why are you doing this!?" The monster only glowered at me from a distance. It was low, almost inaudible, but I swear I could hear it chuckle at my panic. Since it didn't look like it was interested in answering questions, I attempted the next best thing - call for help. "Hey! Somebody help us! There's a mad man on the loose! Please, somebody, anyone, help!"

"I'm afraid nobody can hear you now… my curse is powerful enough to deafen any who would come to your aid…" A thin mist arose, flooding the floor of the hallway. Could this have been part of his curse…? Wait no, what am I talking about? This was obviously just a prank, or at worst some sort of costume. And the mist was coming from a fog machine! That's the only logical explanation for any of this going on.

Nobody came to help. Nobody had heard my pleas for help, just as the wraith had told him. Except for… the person who kept knocking on the bathroom door. "Josh! What the heck is going on out there? Are you okay?"

The wraith was right in front of the bathroom door. If John were to open the door at this moment, what would that monster do to him? He couldn't even think about it. "S-stay in the bathroom! Don't come out, whatever you do!"

"Wh-what are you talking about? What is going on?"

The wraith got closer and closer, his beady eyes focusing in on my face. I tried to run away, even with my legs being so scraped up, but I couldn't muster up the strength to budge my legs. It was as if all the energy was being drained out of my body, little by little, as that thing got closer and closer…

It was now mere inches away from me. My skin was turning a sickly pale color, like white cheese. What was going on…? Was I going to die here…? Even as I desperately tried to scream, the sound never escaped from my throat. There was only silence as the wraith approached, scythe poised to strike…

"Hey, over here you creepy weirdo!"

It took a moment to process exactly what just happened. In the span of a few seconds, John had opened the door to the bathroom and threw a jar of liquid soap at the wraith's head, shattering upon contact. The wraith didn't falter in the slightest; rather, it turned its attention to John, who was just as paralyzed as I was.

The wraith chuckled as its eyes focused in on John. "So, you intend to save him, do you…? How foolish… you are but a mortal human, so it would not take long to stop you from interfering any longer…"

The wraith raised his scythe in John's direction. I yelled at him to run, but he didn't move at all. His face was strained with pain and fear… as if he was on the verge of death. It was a horrifying face, even more horrifying than the monster that threatened to kill us. I realized then… what I feared more than the wraith, or even my own death, was watching someone I loved die in front of me. And I couldn't do anything about it but watch… and wait for my own death.

 _No… that's not true…!_

 _I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't just lie down and die. Especially not when it isn't just my life that's on the line! This isn't just a gang of bullies any more… it's something that defies the very reality I've been living in all my life. But even so, no matter what, I refused to die without fighting back._

"You… stay away from him!" Everything unfolded so quickly, it was hard the realized exactly what went down. I felt the energy, hidden away inside me for so long, burst forth from my body like some sort of explosion. The ground shook and trembled, strong enough for the monster to lose its focus. As the earth halted, a giant rock spire shot from beneath the ground and impaled the wraith through its midsection. The monster wailed in pain and slumped down against the spire, seemingly dead. The scythe it was holding fell to the ground with a loud thud.

With it being taken care of, John immediately rushed towards my side. "What the hell is going on here? Who - or what - was that thing?"

"Do you think I know? It suddenly just, attacked me out of nowhere… gh…" I hadn't realized I was still bleeding pretty badly from that first strike the monster got on me. It seemed like John hadn't noticed either until now.

"Oh shoot, your arm!" John pulled my arm towards him to get a better luck, careful not to touch or irritate my cut. "This is bad… Okay, first order of business is to get this stitched up! Then we can figure out who the hell is this guy and…"

"Yeah." I empathetically agree. To be honest, I didn't think being around the monster's corpse any longer was comforting, no matter how dead it was.

I stood up, supported by John, and we trotted down the hallway calling out for help. Or that was supposed to be the plan. In hindsight, turning our back on the monster we thought was dead wasn't the best idea.

"Where… do you think you are going…?"

We made the mistake of turning back, coming to the horrible realization that the wraith wasn't done talking. It dislodged itself from the spire, walking towards as if it was but a mere scratch. "I must admit, that was quite a powerful attack for a wizard raised in a mortal world. Even so… such weak magic could never defeat me…"

"H-hold up! What's this about magic and wizards!?" John asked loudly. "This has gotta be some kinda joke right?"

Unfortunately, the monster wasn't in a joking mood. He raised his scythe to strike, but just as we were about to run away, as implausible as it was, the wraith stopped. A wooden arrow was sticking out of his chest, the same place where the spire impaled him. He slowly looked down, and even with an expressionless skull for a face, I could see the agony he felt. He wailed as he slowly started to disintegrate into black dust. It was safe to assume that he was done for this time around.

After the wraith disappeared, another thing trotted into sight. At first, I thought it was a horse - I mean, it had the body of a horse so that should have been a safe assumption. When I looked up, however, where the head of the horse should have been was the muscular body of a man with a bow gripped in his large, clenched fists. I read about things like these in a book some time ago… I believe these things are called centaurs? Half-human and half-horse… but what the heck was a mythological creature walking around here for?

Before I could even register the centaur as an even more dangerous threat, it disappeared into green wisps that faded into the darkness of the hallway. In its place stood a girl with peculiarly green hair and eyes that matched. Those colors were so vibrant that I could even see them in the darkness. However, the thing that I found the most peculiar was the weird wooden staff she was holding, which seemed to be illuminated with an odd green glow.

"Oh thank goodness you two are okay! If I would have been just a few seconds late… I don't want to think what would have happened!"

"... What?" I managed to stammer out.

"Y-yeah, do you know what's going on here?" John demanded. "And who are you? And what the hell were those things that attacked us?"

The girl looked down at her feet. "O-oh, well it's only natural that you'd be confused by what you've seen tonight, given that you've been living in this world for so long. So… it's going to be hard to explain exactly what's going on, and ever harder to get you to believe me."

"W-what are you talking about?" John asked curtly.

"The short story is I came here looking for a wizard. Because magic is real. Maybe not here, but it's definitely real where I come from! That's what you saw tonight."

"Magic? Yeah right, I wo-"

"Hold on!" I interjected. "Let's hear her out. I think… we can believe her."

"Josh…" John, despite his skepticism, kept quiet.

"Joshua… Myers…" The girls took a few steps toward me. "That's your name, right?"

"Y-yeah… how do you know my name?"

The green-haired girl nodded to herself. "Because… you're the person I was looking for. The boy who's been living in this world, unaware of the magic hidden within him. Joshua… you are the wizard I was sent to rescue."

* * *

 **A/N: So how was it? If you have something you want to share about the story, please let me know! I'm always happy to get reviews :)**


	3. Yer A Wizard, Josh

**Chapter 3: Yer A Wizard, Josh**

"I'm a… what now?"

"Oh geez, I know it's hard to understand, especially when it's this sudden…" The girl said with a sympathetic tone to her voice. "But it's the truth! What you saw happen before your very eyes should tell you about as much."

"M-magic?" John muttered with some difficulty. "Do you expect us to buy into that? No way… there's no way what we saw was magic!"

The two kept going on, but I tuned out their voices. Right now, I was focused on trying to get a grip on reality. So… I was a wizard. I feel like I shouldn't believe it, like I should be on John's side. I'm not a kid anymore, so I shouldn't buy into a phony explanation like 'it was magic all along'. Under normal circumstances, I would have not believed her, but...

To say these were normal circumstances, however, would be to say that the sun is just a giant ball of cheese. As silly as that metaphor is, it was the truth. The only rational explanation for what's been going on with me along wasn't exactly what you'd call rational in any other situation, but there was no doubt in my mind. Everything that has been happening - the weird dreams, the sudden sinkhole, and now this - it was all pointing to once conclusion, as unbelievable as it was.

"I understand." Both John and the girl turned to look at me, both wearing a look of surprise on their faces. I couldn't really blame them for a reaction like that - I myself couldn't believe those words came out of my mouth. To be honest, I was far from understanding what was going on… but at the very least, I wanted to hear what she had to say before I make any more judgements.

The girl looked as if she was about to say something, but stopped right when she saw the still bleeding gash on my forearm. To be honest, with all that's beein going on, I kinda forgot about it too… at least, until she noticed, and all the pain came rushing back up. "So, that monster really did manage to get one hit in... I was afraid that would happen, so that's why I came prepared."

"W-what do you mean?" John asked with hesitation.

She leaned over my injured arm. The wound was emanating some kind of black smoke, but I had no idea what it could have been. I should have been more afraid, but honestly, I felt more annoyed than scared. Out of all the things that happened tonight, that stupid cut should be the least of my worries.

The girl produced a vial of red liquid from her coat pocket. I couldn't tell what it was, but it seemed to glow brightly as she inspected it. "Whoah whoah whoah, what the heck is that? How can we trust that just not a bunch of acid?"

"Well…" The girl murmured. "This is a concoction that heals wounds like this. Medicine here isn't suited to treat cuts inflicted by monsters, and it would probably just make it worse. You have to trust me, okay?"

"Fine…" I muttered in response. John shot me a confused glance, but nevertheless he stepped back and let the girl lean further in.

"I'm sorry, this might sting a little at first." Carefully, she poured the contents of the vial over the cut. The liquid evaporated quickly when it dripped against my skin, and just like the girl had worn, left an acute burning sensation.

"Ah-aahh! Mother of-"

"Ah, please! Clench your teeth, the pain will be over soon! I promise!"

I clenched my teeth until I felt the pain dissipate. I glanced, fearfully, at my arm, but found that in place of the cut was a pale red mark, which faded away a few moments later. "Do you… feel okay?" The girl asked.

"Y-yeah… thanks." I nodded with a sigh of relief. I flexed my arm a bit to test it out. To my surprise, aside from the faint feeling of soreness, it felt as if nothing had happened. "What… was that anyway?"

"A wraith." The girl answered gravely. "A spirit of death, and a fearsome monster. It's a strange occurence for such a thing to appear in a world like this, and… quite alarming. I don't know what it means, but there's no doubt that something is very wrong."

"No kidding, that really was a monster then…" John stood out against the dark background with his pale skin. Was it always that pale? "I-I don't even know what to believe anymore! But-"

"Forgive me..." The girl interjected, cutting of John from another one of his ramblings. "You shouldn't have seen this. I wasn't expecting an innocent bystander to get caught up in this mess. It's going to be hard to forget something like this, but can you at least promise me not to speak a word of this to anyone?"

John sighed. "It's not like anyone would believe me anyway."

"Joshua." The girl's attention suddenly turned to me. "We have to go. You aren't safe here. If that wraith managed to attack you here, then there's bound to be even more monsters waiting to get to you."

"Why me?" For all that's been said, I still don't have any answers. That thing was a wraith, sure, but what the heck even is a wraith? The more that we talk about this the more questions I have. "What do those things want to do with me?"

As soon as the question left my mouth, the girl's gaze fell to the ground. "I… don't know. Perhaps Mr. Ambrose would know more about this…"

"Ambrose?"

The girl seemed taken aback by the question. "Oh, I forgot! With everything that's going on, I forgot to explain. I've been sent to look for you by Merle Ambrose, an old and powerful wizard who found you in this world. He knew you had powerful magic within you, and that magic would attract some unsavory folks. As you no doubt have already witnessed. That is why he wanted me to seek you out and bring you back to Wizard City, the home of… well, wizards."

"You're taking me to another world?"

"Well, yes." The girl answered, a bit awkwardly. "I hope you understand. You're not really safe here. In Wizard City, you'll at least be in good hands."

I didn't have a choice. That's about as much as I got from her explanation. I wouldn't be giving up much by going along with this girl to 'Wizard City', as she called it. I didn't have any family to speak of, and it's not like there were many people in this place that would miss me if I happened to run away. However, there was one thing - or rather, person - that I would have to leave behind.

John had been quite for quite some time. When the realization of what was going on had dawned on his, he finally mustered up his concern. "So… is this goodbye?"

"For the time being… but not forever." She reassured the both of us, although I could sense the doubt in her voice. From how John's face seemed to darken told me that he also wasn't that convinced. "You can come home one day. And I'm sure you'll like Wizard City. It's certainly a nice place full of cool people that would be willing to help you out. But… um…" Her words fell flat in this tense atmosphere, which she picked up on after a few moments of silence.

"I'll give you two a moment alone. I'll be waiting outside when you're ready." With that said, the girl disappeared into the dark hallway. I heard a door open and close further into the hall, so I assumed that she had kept her promise.

Neither of us really knew what to say at that moment. I mean, what could we really say? I wasn't expecting to say goodbye this soon. Or at all really. I've just been thinking that John would be part of my life forever, because I couldn't accept the possibility that one day we could be seperated so suddenly.

"So… looks like you're really going. So… have fun." John hesitantly offered out his hand for a handshake, which I just as awkwardly accepted. "Man, a wizard huh? Who would have guessed…"

"Yeah. Well…" As our hands seperated, another bout of tense silence fell between us. "You'll be okay, right?"

John shrugged in response. "'Course. I just don't know how I'm going to explain this in the morning. I'm pretty sure they will catch on pretty fast to your sudden disappearance. I can only keep filling in for you during roll call every morning for a few."

I haven't thought about how everyone else would react to my absence until now. Maybe they'd just assume I'd run away? I don't know how much trouble I'll stir up by up and disappearing into the air - I am just an orphan with no family to his name - but I doubt I have a choice in this anymore. All I could do for now was hope for the best, especially for John having to deal with the fallout.

"Good luck with that then." As I started making my way to the door, before I could make it a few steps, I felt arms wrap around me in a tight embrace. "W-whoah!"

"Geez, what's with you? This is what people do when they say goodbye, right?"

"S-sure." I returned the hug, with a lot less ferocity than John. After a few seconds, John finally let himself seperate from the embrace, and I followed suit. "I… never expected you to be the hugging type."

"I'm not. But it was my last chance to say goodbye, was it? Hey, don't die on me. And don't think just because you're Harry Potter now you can just skip out on me, alright?"

"Hah, point taken. You take care too. I'll make sure this isn't the last time we see each other. After all, you still owe me five dollars."

"Hey, can't you just let that go? What's a wizard going to do with money anyway? Can't you just make dollars pop out of thin air now?"

After exchanging another round of good byes and a few laughs, I was finally off. I can feel John's gaze on my back, but once I reached the door and took one final glance back at the hallway, he was nowhere to be seen. It stung not to be by his side anymore, but the girl was waiting outside just a few feet away.

The girl was waiting right outside, just as she had said. "Everything set?"

"Yeah. I got my one goodbye in. So, where's this Wizard City anyway?"

The girl reached for her staff, which conjured a green glow that provided enough light to illuminate our surroundings. It was the city I grew up in, still wet from a recent storm. The streetlights flickered on and off, as they had tended to do on particularly turbulent nights. "Follow me. We'll be there before you know it."

I followed her through the familiar streets, through a dark alley lit only by the green glow of her staff. "Oh! I have yet to introduce myself properly have I?" The girl shot a glance back at me. "I'm so sorry, I forgot my manners in all the mess. My name is Rose Greenthorn!"

"Well, hello Rose. Your name's a… bit on the nose, to be honest."

"Is it?" I couldn't see her face from where I was, but I kinda assumed she was taken aback. It didn't look like she got that comment often, judging from the tone of her voice. "Oh, well, wizards tend to have names like that. I can't quite tell you the reason why, but if you're curious there are quite a few people that could tell you more."

Surnames were low on priority when it came to learning about wizardry, but I'll keep it in mind. "I didn't mean to be rude. It's a nice name."

"Oh… thank you." She murmured in response. "Um, you know… if you need any help with anything, I'm here to help you. Ambrose only sent me to get you, but I could always be of service if you need me. I always enjoyed helping people."

"I'll… keep it in mind, thank you."

"Oh, and Josh…" Rose stopped in her tracks for a brief moment. "I know this was all so sudden. I wish we could have met under different circumstances, but believe me when I say this is for the best."

"You don't have to worry about me. It's not like I'm leaving much behind." I thought that was true, sure. But the orphanage was still my home. It was painful leaving behind everything I ever knew behind just like that, but I couldn't lie to myself either and say I didn't want to find out about wizards. Especially if it got me closer to finding out an explanation for all those weird dreams I've been having.

"Alright, we're here!" Rose's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as we reached the end of an alley. In front of us was a dumpster. Just… a dumpster. "Please mind the smell. I didn't expect the portal to form in such an unseemly place."

"This is the way to Wizard City?"

"Yep!" Rose stepped in front of the dumpster and flipped the lid open. A wave of foul stench hit me with such force that I reconsidered whether this new life was worth dumpster diving. A beam of light shot up from the inner chamber of the dumpster, and just like that Rose had disappeared into it.

I had my reservations, but as I closed the distance between myself and the dumpster I saw what was, indeed, a vortex of white light right in front of my own eyes. "Wild…" was the only thing I could muster to say in my confusion. "Well, here goes nothing…" Despite my reservations, I pinched my nose and jumped in.


End file.
